The Twin4cyber start-up creates the virtual twin of companies of all sizes. It is a digital copy, identical to the original, which is used to simulate computer attacks and discover the hidden vulnerabilities, allowing you to intervene quickly. To correct them without damage.
Imagine an expert thief, offering him white paper. To challenge him to introduce himself to your home in the way he considers most effective. It could climb a wall and enter from a window, lower from the roof along a gutter, force an old lock or act directly: break through the entrance door that is too fragile with the help of a pig foot.
In any case, net of the cost of the assignment of the thief accomplice, you would get damage and an advantage: On the one hand you would discover the vulnerabilities of your home and you could intervene promptly, on the other you should repair the damage caused by the effectiveness, such as a broken glass or a torn door.
Pierguido Iezzi, long -term entrepreneur and among the most listed Italian experts of Cybersecurity, has conceived an intelligent and quite effective method to offer such an opportunity for weaknesses to companies, regardless of their size. All without having to involve dangerous crime professionals, nor interrupts normal activities to remedy a damage caused intentionally.
The idea takes shape in Twin4cyber, a start-up that in the name contains its mission: to create a Digital Twin, that is, a virtual twin of a company or institution, to be used to simulate computer attacks of various kinds, with the aim of identifying the fragility that could also be exploited in the real world.
«We rely on a digital clone, a faithful reply of our client’s infrastructure. It is a dynamic model, constantly updated, generated thanks to artificial intelligence »explains Iezzi, former officer, author of various essays on the theme of IT security, such as Cyber and Power (Mondadori, 2023) and criminal algorithm (Il Sole 24 Ore, 2024).
The concept of digital twin is not new: it is a consolidated practice in the industrial field, for example in the development of prototypes of physical objects, to virtually test its resistance to stress, accidents or malfunctions. Twin4cyber applies this logic to the context of daily digital threats, which affect anyone who rely on technology for their business. It is a bit like participating in a virtual Risiko, a simulated conflict without direct consequences: «We are able to precisely reproduce all the passages of an attempt at intrusion, for example starting from a compromised credential or from an intercepted e-mail. We already collaborate with a well -known transport company and with a local bank ».
For some time it has been invited to prudence against phishing and social engineering, that is, the ability to extort information through deception, leveraging apparently insignificant details. Iezzi’s start-up goes further, activating multiple signals of preventive alarm: «And all this without affecting the normal functioning of the activities. Let’s think about what happens when a device stops during an update: it is not easy at all to test a critical infrastructure such as that of a hospital or factory, which is why the digital twin represents a precious alternative ».
One of the most feared expanding threats is represented by the “ransomware”, those viruses that paralyze a company up to the payment of a redemption. An analysis conducted by Twin4cyber in collaboration with Maticmind’s Cybersecurity team, a company specialized in technological innovation of which Iezzi is strategic director, highlighted that 39.1 percent of global ransomware attacks hit the European Union. “It is not just about extorting money or blocking services: more and more often the goal is to affect strategic sectors and destabilize complex economies”.
The report, presented on April 14 in the Chamber of Deputies, underlines a crucial point for Italy: «Our GDP is largely based on small and medium -sized enterprises. Attacks of this type not only interrupt the activity, but subtract sensitive information and patents ». With serious medium -term repercussions: «This is how products identical products to ours, at negligible costs, appear in the global market. Those who put them for sale did not have to invest in research. The damage does not fall only on a single company, but on the entire national economic system “.
This is why it is essential to test an altruistic virtual twin, however a little masochistic: it undergoes the impact of potential disasters in advance and shows the most effective way to prevent them. Before they really happen.
